"I take control of 'Alchemist of Black Spells'!"
With a grand gesture, Depre commanded. The small Eva Abductor let out a screech, emitting a wave that captured Kira's spellcaster, yanking it over like a puppet.
"But any monster controlled by Abductor must act in sync with the Abductor," Depre said.
This was another of those manga-style, abstract effects—hard to describe in standard card game terms. But based on how it played out in the manga, it meant the controlled monster had to share the same position (attack/defense) as Eva Abductor, and if either the Abductor or the controlled monster attacked, the other had to attack too.
"Alchemist of Black Spells, switch to Attack Position!" Depre ordered.
[Alchemist of Black Spells, ATK 1200]
"Battle!" Depre shouted. "First, Alchemist of Black Spells, direct attack!"
Under the control of the waves, the Alchemist of Black Spells charged straight at Kira with no choice.
Kira calmly revealed a card: "I discard 'Sphere Kuriboh' from my hand. Its effect activates.
When the opponent declares an attack, I can send this card from my hand to the graveyard to change the attacking monster to Defense Position."
The round, fluffy Sphere Kuriboh popped onto the field, showing a fierce expression.
"Kuri kuri!"
Kira: "Change Alchemist of Black Spells to Defense Position."
The spellcaster, under the Abductor's control, ran straight into Sphere Kuriboh and instantly lost its energy, switching from attack to defense and squatting down obediently.
"Eva Abductor's effect means it must match the monster it controls," Kira added evenly. "So Abductor also switches to Defense Position and can't attack."
[Eva Abductor, ATK 1000 → DEF 500]
"Tch." Depre clicked his tongue.
He'd been stopped with just one Sphere Kuriboh, using his own Abductor's effect against him, blocking the two-step attack.
"Then I set a card and end my turn," Depre said gloomily.
He suddenly remembered—the previous Duel King had a fondness for Sphere Kuriboh too.
"My turn, draw."
Kira slapped down a monster card.
"I summon 'Magical Exemplar.'"
[Magical Exemplar, ATK 1700]
"Then I activate my set card," Kira said, flipping his backrow. "Spell card 'Spell Power Grasp.' Place a Spell Counter on any card I control that can hold one.
I'll add a counter to the Continuous Spell 'Arcane Barrier.'"
[Arcane Barrier, Spell Counters: 2 → 3]
"And with Magical Exemplar's effect: whenever a Spell Card is activated, it gains two Spell Counters."
[Magical Exemplar, Spell Counters: 0 → 2]
"Also, 'Spell Power Grasp' lets me add a third copy from my deck to my hand."
Kira drew the searched spell from his deck.
"Next, I activate the Ritual Spell 'Black Illusion Ritual'!" Kira declared. "Tribute monsters whose total Levels are at least 1 to Ritual Summon 'Relinquished!'"
A ritual altar appeared, and the tribute offered was Sphere Kuriboh.
Depre was startled: "Wait, Sphere Kuriboh should already be in the graveyard—"
"Sphere Kuriboh's other effect: when used for a Ritual Summon, you can banish it from the graveyard as a substitute for a tribute.
So I banish Sphere Kuriboh from the grave as the Level 1 tribute. Ritual Summon—
—Relinquished!!!"
A sinister shadow swept the field as the eerie Relinquished appeared, its single eye glinting maliciously.
[Relinquished, ATK 0]
"Pegasus's monster!?"
Depre was alarmed, but quickly calmed himself and shouted,
"Then I'll activate my set card as well!
Quick-Play Spell 'Demise of the Land'! When your opponent Special Summons a monster, I can activate a Field Spell from my deck."
Depre quickly selected a Field Spell.
"I activate—
—Field Spell: 'Cosmic Space'!!" (Manga Card)
The scenery warped, turning into a space filled with countless stars, an endless darkness with swirling constellations.
"A cosmic?" Kira frowned.
"That's right. In 'Cosmic Space,' all monsters gain 'Life Stars' equal to their Level," sneered Depre. "And at the end of every turn, every monster loses one Life Star.
When a monster's Life Stars reach zero, it's destroyed."
Kira understood: "Relinquished is only Level 1."
"Exactly! Pegasus's Relinquished might be powerful, but in my Cosmic Space, it's a perfect counter!
Your Level 1 Relinquished can only survive one turn here!"
"Yeah, that's a pretty hard counter."
Kira nodded, still calm.
"But just now, we activated three Spell Cards—Black Illusion Ritual, Demise of the Land, and Cosmic Space. Every time a Spell Card is activated, Magical Exemplar gains two Spell Counters.
So the Exemplar gains six more counters."
[Magical Exemplar, Spell Counters: 2 → 8]
"Now I activate Relinquished's effect. Once per turn, it can absorb an opponent's monster and gain its ATK and DEF.
First, I'll absorb 'Eva Abductor.'"
Eva Abductor was gruesomely absorbed by Relinquished, its twisted face appearing on Relinquished's body.
[Relinquished, ATK 0 → ATK 1000]
"You absorbed Abductor?" Depre was surprised.
He still had the Alchemist of Black Spells with 1800 DEF—Kira chose to absorb Abductor instead? Now, neither of Kira's monsters could beat Alchemist of Black Spells's defense.
Was that a misplay?
"Next, I activate Arcane Barrier's effect. By sending this card and a Spellcaster I control to the graveyard, I can draw a number of cards equal to the Spell Counters on 'Arcane Barrier.'"
He pointed to his field.
"I send 'Arcane Barrier' and 'Relinquished' to the graveyard."
Depre: "!"
He stared wide-eyed at Relinquished.
That thing's a Spellcaster!?
"There are three Spell Counters on Arcane Barrier, so I draw three cards."
Kira drew three cards.
"Now I activate Magical Exemplar's effect. Once per turn, I can remove any number of Spell Counters from this card, and Special Summon the same number of Spellcaster monsters from my hand or graveyard."
Kira picked a card from his graveyard.
"Remove one Spell Counter from Exemplar to Special Summon—
—Relinquished is back!"
[Relinquished, ATK 0]
Depre's pupils shrank as he realized—
Wait, if Relinquished is revived, that means...
"That's right. Its once-per-turn effect resets, so it can absorb another monster."
Kira swept his arm.
"Relinquished, absorb his 'Alchemist of Black Spells'!"